When Luo Chi woke up, the rain had already stopped.

The storm had come and gone abruptly, and the weather had completely cleared. Opening the French windows of the terrace, the crisp chirping of birds filled the air, and the sky was as blue as if it had been washed.

The voyage could not be delayed. The ship had to set sail immediately after the rain stopped, and his new friend had left just as hastily.

Luo Chi woke from a dream filled with sea breeze, waves, and the sound of a ship’s horn, only to find that Ming Weiting had already left at some unknown time. The loungewear was neatly folded and placed on the bedside table.

“A call came from the cruise ship. They said they had to leave port while the weather was good to avoid the path of this typhoon.” Ren Shuangmei came into the living room and gently stroked the little one’s head. “He also left a letter. He said he hid it under Huo Miao’s pillow.”

Luo Chi immediately sat up, reached under his pillow, and indeed found a folded piece of paper. His eyes lit up. “Really?”

Ren Shuangmei laughed, sat on the edge of the bed, and passed him the gift his new friend had left behind.

Luo Chi took it and looked at it carefully, discovering it was a heavy fountain pen. It was clearly not a new pen, but it was still very well-maintained. The body was a dark blue with a slight sheen, and the top of the cap had a golden anchor emblem.

Seeing how much the little one liked the gift, Ren Shuangmei specially found a velvet pen pouch of the same color and helped Huo Miao carefully put the pen inside. “There, you can use this for autographs in the future.”

Luo Chi was startled. “Autographs?”

“Of course.” Ren Shuangmei tapped his head with a serious expression. “I don’t know which little guitarist is so handsome, so amazing, and plays the guitar so well.”

Luo Chi suddenly reacted, his ears quickly turning hot, and his whole body flushed red as he buried himself under the quilt.

When he was playing the guitar, he hadn’t felt much—at that time, it was just happiness and excitement. He saw his mother’s eyes widen in surprise, saw her standing in the crowd waving at him enthusiastically, clapping along with the others. He was so happy he could almost fly. The happier he was, the more he loved the guitar in his arms, and the lively tunes flowed out endlessly. He himself didn’t even know that playing with other people could be such a happy thing.

Luo Chi composed himself, peeked out from under the quilt, and asked his mom in a small voice, “Was I really handsome?”

Ren Shuangmei, with a quick hand, rolled Huo Miao into a quilt burrito, hugged him tightly, and answered loudly, “Super handsome, okay!”

“The guitars at the music store are all sold out!” Ren Shuangmei lay on the bed with him, laughing as she recounted the scene from last night. “They all asked Mom where she brought this little one from, how he could be so amazing and cool… Oh my god, Mom has never been this happy even after closing a huge business deal.”

Luo Chi’s eyes widened, and he stared at his mother without moving.

Ren Shuangmei met his gaze with a smile and nodded firmly. “It’s true. Mom was super happy last night. My baby is the coolest little one in the world.”

The little one was praised until he was like a little whistling kettle, his whole body so red it seemed to be steaming. He stayed hidden in his mother’s arms, hot and motionless.

Ren Shuangmei gently patted Huo Miao’s back, recalled for a moment, and hummed a few of the melodies he had played last night. “These parts were the best. I especially liked them. I even dreamed of this tune.”

Luo Chi looked up and proactively raised his hand in surprise. “I like these parts the most too!”

He had actually written lyrics for one of the melodies. He hummed and sang it softly, then couldn’t help but continue talking about the source of inspiration for these lyrics, what was on his mind.

Ren Shuangmei listened to him seriously. Watching the talkative and increasingly excited Huo Miao, her eyes grew warmer and warmer.

Seven years ago, Ren Shuangmei returned to the country and saw Luo Chi in person for the first time. Although the little one was quite mature for his age, calm and quiet, he actually already had his own very clear likes and passions.

It was also on the beach at that time, at a party hosted by the Ren family. Ren Shuangmei had just disciplined a few disobedient brats. As she passed the bonfire, she saw little Huo Miao staring at the young men playing in the band, his eyes glued to them.

At that time, Ren Shuangmei had actually mentioned to that family that they should find an opportunity to take Huo Miao to a music store, let him choose for himself, and see if there was anything he liked.

Ren Shuangmei had known from the beginning that this was a child who kept things in his heart and didn’t know how to speak up, who didn’t know how to ask for what he wanted, and only knew how to shoulder all responsibilities himself.

But in fact, this was only because he didn’t know that he could also speak his mind, that he could ask for what he wanted, that he didn’t have to carry so many responsibilities, that he didn’t have to be so sensible.

He didn’t know that he was fully entitled to do these things, entitled to immerse himself completely in whatever he liked.

Luo Chi had never had the chance to know before that he shouldn’t have been scolded for being noisy, that he shouldn’t have been sternly ordered to be quiet and then stuffed into a small room. He didn’t know that his excited talk about the things he liked was actually something a group of adults particularly envied and admired.

Just last night alone, after Ren Shuangmei returned to the villa, several friends in the music and entertainment industries had come to find her through various channels. After beating around the bush for a long time, they finally got to the point, and without exception, they all wanted to poach Huo Miao.

Ren Shuangmei was cleaning the living room at the time. Hearing this, she raised her broom and “friendlily” answered these questions that revealed their true intentions.

---

Luo Chi talked until his voice was a little hoarse before he realized he might have gotten a bit too excited. He quieted down, his ears red.

Ren Shuangmei smiled and rubbed his head. “I love listening to you.”

Luo Chi had already come up with more inspiration just from talking. He leaned against his mother, and for some reason, he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her even tighter than before.

“I’ll write them all down,” Luo Chi said softly. “I’ll write them for Mom to hear.”

“I have songs I want to write for Mom, several of them.” Luo Chi said, “I also want to learn to draw. When I learn, I’ll draw for Mom, until I’m a hundred years old.”

“That long?” Ren Shuangmei couldn’t help but laugh. “That would be a lot of drawings.”

Luo Chi nodded vigorously.

“How are you so amazing?” Ren Shuangmei stroked his hair, again and again. “Is there something Mom has forgotten to tell Huo Miao all this time?”

Luo Chi was startled and looked up.

“It’s Mom’s first time being a mom too.”

Ren Shuangmei thought carefully for a moment before saying softly, “When I brought Huo Miao home, Mom was very nervous, worried that I wouldn’t be a good mom, worried that I would make Huo Miao feel wronged or uncomfortable somewhere.”

Luo Chi was startled and was about to shake his head desperately, but his mom held his face with her hands, her grip gentle but firm.

“A lot of times, adults are very troublesome.”

“Adults can be self-righteous, they can take things for granted. Some adults who haven’t grown up well can become very annoying, and you can’t reason with them.”

Ren Shuangmei said, “We won’t look at those bastard adults… but there are still many people who have the same problem. We’re always too embarrassed to admit some things, always feel it’s too embarrassing to say them out loud.”

This morning, Ren Shuangmei drove Huo Miao’s new friend to the pier and had a brief chat with him. Ming Weiting was polite but quite taciturn. It was also Huo Miao’s first time making a friend, so Ren Shuangmei could hardly guess how the two of them had talked for so long.

But Ren Shuangmei still tried to ask him some things—the answers she got were very respectful of the little one’s privacy, basically amounting to asking nothing. But the young man was still somewhat inexperienced, not knowing that hesitation and deliberation, in many cases, could already serve as an answer.

The Ren family liked Huo Miao very much, but when it came to the step of adoption, many of them actually didn’t quite approve. Just as they didn’t approve of Ren Shuangmei remaining single, and didn’t approve of some of her business decisions.

The reasons were nothing more than those. An adopted child, after all, had a layer of separation, no blood ties, not secure enough. Moreover, this was the Luo family’s child. No one could be sure about the future. What if Luo Chi was taken back in the future? It would all be for nothing…

…These were all perfectly normal, very annoying things that only adults would consider.

Ren Shuangmei had taken some time to go home a few days ago, listened calmly as they finished speaking, then slapped the adoption application that was being processed on the table, telling her family that if they didn’t accept it, they should quickly find a way to accept it.

If it weren’t for all this business in the family, Ren Shuangmei would have long been out enjoying the world, instead of worrying from morning till night, to the point where her health almost suffered.

If these people couldn’t accept Huo Miao, she would just quit and take Huo Miao to travel and recuperate. Life would be incredibly comfortable and pleasant.

The Ren family members were silent for a long time, then closed their mouths and went back to their rooms to try to accept this matter.

Ren Shuangmei had not told Luo Chi about these things. Handling her family was not a problem, but Luo Chi had grown up in that family. He was mature and intelligent for his age, and had been forced to be introverted, taking everything upon himself. She was afraid he would inevitably sense these pressures.

“Some things are destined.”

“That day at the hospital, Huo Miao was almost locked up by them. He rushed out alone to find Mom.” Ren Shuangmei said softly, “At that time, I told myself, this is settled. No one is going to change it for me.”

Ren Shuangmei looked at Huo Miao, her tone more serious than usual, and she spoke to her child word by word, “Mom has always been proud of you.”

Luo Chi’s shoulders trembled slightly in her arms, and he looked up without a sound.

“Playing the guitar by the bonfire, you were the brightest and coolest in Mom’s eyes. No one could compare,” Ren Shuangmei said. “Mom told everyone that was my child. I wanted to tell the whole world.”

“It’s not just this. There are many other things—what an amazing child it must be to survive those three years and escape, to find his way home by himself.”

“How brave must he be to rescue his sister from those people, to let his sister escape safely.”

“How can there be such a brave little one who can grow up all by himself?”

Ren Shuangmei said, “After being hurt so much, meeting so many bad people, so many sad things, you are still willing to believe in Mom, to follow Mom.”

Luo Chi’s chest heaved. He looked seriously at the figure before him, and tears suddenly, uncontrollably, rolled down his face in large drops.

Ren Shuangmei was a little surprised, then smiled and gently scraped his nose. “Why are you crying all of a sudden?”

“It’s not me,” Luo Chi said in a small voice. “It’s not me crying… Mom.”

It wasn’t him crying.

It was another self from the dream, watching him—another self who had been separated from his mom for too long, who had grown up alone for too long.

It was as if the words he had never had the chance to hear had finally been supplied at this moment, in a way that science could not explain at all.

…So suddenly, he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Ren Shuangmei was stunned.

Huo Miao’s tone was subtly different from usual. The last two words were bitten out slowly and solemnly, his voice trembling slightly.

Ren Shuangmei frowned, looked at him seriously, and gently touched his face.

“Mom,” Huo Miao’s eyes curved towards him. “Mom.”

He was trembling slightly, yet his shoulders and back were straight, his head held high without flinching.

Ren Shuangmei’s heart suddenly tightened, and she gathered her arms. “Good boy.” She asked softly, “What’s wrong? Don’t be afraid, Mom is here.”

Huo Miao shook his head, his eyes also smiling. He turned his face and pressed it against his mother’s palm, then closed his eyes in her embrace.

Ren Shuangmei didn’t ask any more questions, just held her child protectively in her arms, holding him tightly.

“Good boy.”

Ren Shuangmei said, “You have always been Mom’s pride.”

Ren Shuangmei said softly, “The happiest thing for Mom is being your mom.”